i 2 THIS WEEK: A Roundup ( The War Victory In North Africa Complete disaster has finally overtaken the Germans in North Africa. All organized resistance has ended. General yon Arnim has surrendered, and at least 150,000 prisoners have been taken. Correspondents tell of one of the strangest sights of the war—the spectacle of thousands of Nazi” troops, remnants of the once- proud Africa Korps, driving back through Allied lines in every kind of vehicle, without Allied military escort, asking directions to the- nearest prison camp. The collapse of enemy resistance came suddenly when the Ameri- cans and the British First Army broke through to MBizerte and Tunis, with the French coming in from the north. The move caught the German High Com- mand off guard. They had count- ed on the break-through coming from the south by the forces of the British Bighth Army, and maintained formidable armored forces in that area. When the main weight of the British and American armor broke through in the center it was too late to bring up the southern forces and the Germans were through. ‘ With the collapse of the armored units came an astonishing col- lapse of morale. German soldiers, officers and general officers sur rendered en masse. One general was said to have burst into tears when he reached the headquarters of the American division which had smashed his forces. Thus fell those who boastfully elaimed they were supermen. It is a good omen for the future, “substantiating the experience of the Russian front. The Germans fight well only so long as they possess the overwhelming pro- tection of superior panzer units. When they are smashed and they face the cold steel of the bayonets and the hail of fire from the air, they lose confidence, courage, and then surrender. ° wrer? Seeend Front First On Agenda The victory in Tunisia has now placed the question of the second front first on the agenda. There are some positive facts indicating that preparations are well under way for an invasion of the continent. It was revealed this week that the famous British Highth Army was removed from the Tunisian front some weeks ago, a fact that caused the Nazi high command considerable uneasiness. This powerful fighting organiza- tion owas unquestionably with- drawn from the front to put it in readiness to become the spearhead of the Allied invasion of Europe. Experts agree there is no other Allied army outside the Soviet Union that has had so much and such brilliant experience and that has proven it can strike well and powerfully. That same experience and organization will prove in- valuable to General Alexanders fine troops in any invasion of Europe. Prime Minister Churchill’s visit to Washington for discussions with President Roosevelt also herald early action by the United Nations against the Axis. Some observers are speculating as to whether the Churchill-Roosevelt talks indicate a reorientation of Allied strategy in the direction of concentrating mainly upon Japan and the Pacific war theaters. Undoubtedly the two leaders will discuss the possibility of a Japanese offensive, perhaps against India, that would seek to remove pressure against Hitler in Europe, and will take the neces- sary steps to block such an of- fensive. But unless they decide to completely revise the strategic plan arrived at in the Casablanca con- ference, where the main emphasis was placed on the defeat of Hitler Germany first, to be followed by concentration in the Pacific thea- ter, it is likely the Washington talks are for the purpose of de- veloping final plans for the in- vasion of the European continent, perhaps at several points. Most likely landing points for the invasion will be at some point on the French coast fronting the Channel, where the shipping prob- lem would be easiest solved, coupled with diversionary thrusts against the Lowlands and Norway. Meantime Allied forces in the Mediterranean would have a choice of several invasion points, includ- ing Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia, and the Balkans. Allied bridge- heads at any of these points are possible because the enemy is un- able to provide sufficient cover- ing forces for every sector of the long European coast. The bitter- est fighting would of course come farther inland. Axis Position Becomes Desperate In the face of the latest development in Tunisia, plus the un- certainty created by the Churchill-Roosevelt talks, the Axis position is becoming desperate. Hitler is still a slave to his own war. He must attack in Russia in one last desperate effort to free his rear. The fighting in the Kuban area, with the naval base of Novy- orossisk under siege by the Red Army, shows how desperately the Germans want every inch of Rus- sian soil, how desperately they cling to every hope of advancing in the Bast. But the Soviet aerial offensive has shown such great power that it is questionable whether Hitler can deal the first blow. Instead the Red Army is driving a new wedge into positions west of Vel- iki Luki in an effort to cut the north-south railway running from Vitebsk to Kiev and to penetrate into Latvia and Poland. Everything now seems to depend on the speed with which the in- vasion takes place. If the Euro- pean bridgehead is firmly estab- lished within a short time, more attention can be given to the Pa- cific war and the offensive against Japan developed. Otherwise events in the Bast may force a deviation of concentration in the direction and the Allies in the European theater will be weakened. Poland ‘Soon There'll Be None Left’ While the Polish people suffer under the heel of Hitler and their country is ruthlessly plundered by a gang of German pluto- crats, and while the necessity of turning the full force of every anti-fascist power against Hitler- ism becomes more vital, the emigre government of General Si- korski has been able to offer to the Polish people only one watch- word—‘Wait.” The Polish ministers are appar- ently not all put out by the simple fact that the Polish people are no longer in a position to wait. “The country is waiting,” wrote the illegal Nowy Dzien recently, “but it cannot go on waiting in- definitely for the simple reason that very secon there will be no- body left to wait.” “The Germans are conducting a systematic and planned campaign to exterminate the Polish people,” stated a recent appeal issued by the leaders of the Polish under- ground. “The continuation of this campaign threatens the intellectual section of the Polish nation with complete annihilation and the peo- ple itself with such decimation that when hostilities end the great tasks confronting us may prove beyond our strength.”’ The Polish people have not sur- rendered to their treacherous, cun- ning enemy. But even the most desperate appeals sent out by the heroic Polish patriots seem to have the least effect on the Sikorski cabinet-in-exile. From the tompar- ative safety of London, General Sikorski has taken a highly am- biguous stand on the question. Even Sikorski’s own underground paper frankly admits that the un- derground movement it represents “could deliver more biows at the occupationists and conduct a wider struggle. “But we,” the paper goes on to say, “consciously refrain from this. We have followed the orders of the government and the command- er of the armed forces of our country to wait with our rifles grounded.” In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of Poles and Jews are regularly taken te a certain town on the River Bug, where a small group of Storm Trooper “scientif- ic specialists” act as their execu- tioners, in two camps of death, where instead of machine guns or gallows, the executioners use a new method of killing. The Poles are driven into hermetically- sealed chambers, where they are put to death by steam. The stand taken by the Sikorski government and organizations sub- ordinate to it, therefore, naturally evokes indignation and suspicion among the Poles. “The position of the Polish gov- ernment,” it was recently stated by German radio commentators, “caused profound satisfaction in Berlin.” The “position” referred to, of course, was their collabora- tion in the filthy provocation con- cocted by Goebbels regarding the allegation that in 1940 Soviet au- thorities arranged a mass execu- tion of Polish officers in a forest near Smolensk. From the propaganda of passiv- ity to the blackmailing of the Al- lies and from an inimical cam- paign against the Soviet Union to actual collusion with Hitler—such is the inglorious path travelled by General Sikorski’s emigre govern- ment, which in actual fact is con- tinuing the Beck policy which led Poland to disaster in 1939. Where Does Sikorski Stand? Just where the Polish government-in-exile stands in this war against fascism seems to become more and more uncertain with every news release concerning it, and the Poles themselves, as well as the outside world, are beginning to wonder if their so- called “leader,” General Sikorski, is on the side of democrAcy, in the camp of the Axis, or just out to play one side against the other. News reached this country re- cently, for instance, that the Polish government-in-exile prevented a Soviet-equipped army of more than 70,000 Polish soldiers from fight- ing on the eastern front against the Germans in 1942, and used its consular offices and the relief or- ganization it was permitted to or- ganize within the USSR for es- pionage purposes against the Soviet Union. These disclosures were presented to British and American newsmen in Moscow last week in a lengthy memorandum by Andrei Y. Vish- insky, Vice-Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union. The Polish-Soviet agreement specified that the troops should “fight the German brigands shoul- der te shoulder with Soviet troops.” The USSR loaned hundreds of mil- lions of roubles to the Polish Com- mand to establish the army. But despite repeated assurances that these units would be put into ac- tion, the actual date of their dis- patch to the front kept being postponed. — Vichinsky gives detailed instan- ces of anti-Soviet espionage carried on by officials of the Polish govern- ment-in-exile, giving mames of the guilty parties and quoting from official documents. ‘Slave For & Revealing that in ~ recruited for slave hi view, official organ force the population i° areas to report to ti labor exchange, whict packs them off to Gj work in the industries fields. ; ' A German publication as stating that “since are only issued to perso port to the employm®’ nearly all workers are come under review a manpower for Germany, Janet Weaver, Mosc: pondent for the Inter News, tells the story 0! slave, Vera P., a slight, Russian girl mobilized and transported by frei many, with only enougi water on the journey & in the “recruits.” In Germany they we into a slave market é over by German mén 2 who bought the girls o1 of their good looks at appearance. Vera did) strong enough for them she was purchased for along with 14 other Kursk and taken to 1 farm, where they work in the morning till 6 a a bit of bread, a portion and some potatoes. A we of food was consumed ft by these workers, and they started for ‘wor breakfast. When they apples that fell from and pulled carrots to 4] hunger, they were beat Save Ameri As the 78th Con; a short recess, orgé against renewed cor economic stabilization special executive mee GIO is being held May land, called by CIO Pr lip Murray, will consic ous crisis in the natio! tion policy. Murray. i that the “CIO mobilize ship and the entire ce er to carry out the ‘hold the line” order prices and wages, ¥ roll back prices to tht ing in September 15, Ii! mand necessary wage to meet the increased ing. Roosevelt’s order h nored by a large ger gress who have balkec price control but havi B Ineentive I One of the cont movement in recen production. Many have balked at the p ing it may have t breaking down wag working standards &